Advantages

Disadvantages

2 stars

I bought these from Mothercare about 4 years ago when my granddaughter was weaning, I thought they looked a great idea.

When babies are weaning often those who are caring for the baby make up batches of food for them and then freeze them or they need to take these little portions of food out and about with them. Finding containers that are practical can be difficult so when I saw these I thought they were great.

You get six in a pack and they have little circles on each side of them so they can slot together which I think means they save space or you can keep them together which makes it easier to find in the freezer I guess. They are only small about 6cm tall so don't hold much but then babies when they are weaning don't eat much. The lid lifts up by unclipping it and then presses back down to close.

I found these rather pointless at the end of the day as they hold so little that I ended up taking two or three out with me so I would have been better off just taking one, larger container in the first place. They do slot together but I couldn't really see the point of it as surely if they sit side by side they take up just the same amount of room.

I didn't use them for long, my granddaughter began eating bigger portions and it just seemed pointless. I think they may be practical for some people as they can be frozen and are microwave safe. They don't take up much room in your bag but for me they didn't really make it worth buying as they were too small so I ended up buying bigger pots.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Lovely little pots, but could be better

As soon as my son reached 6 months and was the right age to start weaning, I couldn't wait to start trying him out with new foods! I decided I was going to purée his foods at first, instead of baby led weaning, which is where you just give your baby finger foods straight away and let them learn to eat very early on. I was terrified of my son choking, he was premature and still small for 6 months old, so I puréed everything I gave him to start with.

Making food and puréeing it fresh for each meal is a lot of work, when babies have such small portions, it is hard to put such a small amount in a blender so I decided to cook on a Sunday night each week large amounts and purée everything and freeze it, so it was all ready for each meal every day. I puree everything from different fruits, to chicken with vegetables, or soups. All the food I puree keeps well in these containers by Brother Max.

This is one of the best ideas I had, cooking once a week, and has worked for us since. I needed some containers to store his food in the freezer, and as I had some Mama and Papa vouchers, I decided to spend them on these Brother food pots. I purchased the stage 1 weaning pots, for £6.50 and you get 6 in a pack. You can also buy stage 2 pots which are the same price,but larger size pots, and you only get four in a pack. I have since seen these pots on Amazon and the Kiddicare website, aswell as in Mothercare, for slightly cheaper, you can pick them up for £5-£6 in most places. I think these are reasonably priced, they are not overly expensive.

These stage 1 pots, hold 40ml of food/liquid, which is a perfect size for my little boy. He is 9 months old now, and we still use this size pot, as he is still only eating small portions, but he is also given finger food too now to fill him up. These pots are the perfect portion size for babies who are starting weaning.

These pots look really nice, and I have had a few comments whilst out and about, including other mums who have babies asking me where I got the pots from. They are a blue colour, with a green ring around the lid. The blue pot is see through though, so you can see what food is in the pot. I find this really handy being able to see what colour food is in the pot, as these pots do come with a pen to write on the pot what you have cooked, but this always rubs off on the freezer, it is no good at all, so I am glad I can see in the pots. The pen is a black marker pen and although it is a brilliant little extra to come with the pots, it's a shame it just does not work! The pen write on the pots easily, but unfortunately doesn't stay written on the pot.

The lid is attached to the food pot, which I really like about these pots, as I am always loosing lids to storage containers. It is attached securely and it would be hard for it to break off. The pots are very good quality plastic, and strong. They feel excellent quality, and are so lightweight. The lid being attached is great for me, but I find these lids extremely hard to pull up when the pots have been frozen. They are literally frozen solid to the pot! If I am taking a pot out the freezer for my son and giving the food to him warmed up, I have to get his dad to open the pot, there is no way of me doing it, it is just too hard. I usually take them out the freezer the night before and defrost them so I can open the lids when I want to use the food!

This is a shame about the lids, as the main idea of these pots is being able to pop the food out in a frozen cube. In the bottom of the pot, is a button which you push the food out of the container with. I personally have not been able to get the food out in a frozen cube since buying these pots, the food just seems to be frozen too solid to the pot. I think it is a brilliant idea they have thought of, but it doesn't really work, I can't pop the food out anyway!

Inside the pot, the button creates a bump at the bottom, and as I defrost the food and then pour it out into my sons bowl, the food is really hard to scrape out from around this bump, which means some food I have puréed is wasted, as I can't get it out of the pot. This is a shame, as I hate food going to waste! You can't get a spoon or anything round it, due to the shape of the pot and it is so small.

These pots are easily cleaned in the dishwasher or just simply washing them up. They can go in the steriliser, which is great so you know you have completely germ free and clean pots to put your babies food in! I always sterilise mine before I put food in them, and they have not worn out at all. They still look as good as new, no scratches or fading of the colours. They still feel strong, and have not lost their shape either. They are also safe to go in the microwave, which I do sometimes if I have forgotten to defrost the pots the night before, this makes it easy to open the lid! Even when the pots are not frozen, if you close the lids to store them, they are still not easy to open, I can manage it, but it does sometimes hurt my fingers.

On the side of these pots, you can lock them all together. They click in place, you can store them all together in the freezer, instead of them laying loose. This is a handy idea, but I do find they are difficult to click together, it is not easy. But when they are clicked together, they stay in place well, and wouldn't come undone unless you pulled them apart yourself. They also click together on all different sides of the pots, you can make them into a straight line if you want, or all different shapes. I usually put mine together in a straight line.

They really have thought of every little extra with these pots to help make mums lives easier when it comes to weaning! Its just a shame they aren't better than they should be, with the pen rubbing off, and the lids too hard to open, the button doesn't pop the food out, and they are hard to link together! They are so different to normal ordinary food containers, and I would love for all these things to be made easier and I would buy loads of them!

I have only 6 of these pots, and I didn't buy anymore, although I use these ones still, to get my moneys worth out of them! I won't be purchasing the stage 2 pots, and have bought some Asda food containers for £1 for 8, which are so much easier to use than these Brother ones! These Brother Max pots are a perfect size for first stage portions for babies, and I love the way they look. They are strong and excellent quality, but the lids are way too hard to open for me to purchase anymore! I will continue to use them as they are good as new, and store the food like I need them to do in the freezer, but I think they will go in the bin once I have finished with them, I won't be keeping them for my next baby!

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Nice food containers

These pots do have some design issues for me but I did find them really useful while weaning my daughter away from her bottle feeding and onto solids. They are made by Brother Max and can be bought in either a 4 pot or 6 pot size. They are designed so that they can click together in the freezer and be stored in one place, naturally this makes retrieval easier so they do not get buried under other food stuffs. They slot together very easily and I have never had a problem with this part of the design, they also look kinda funky with the different colours on the designs and the clear plastic body of them. In terms of cost they are not cheap compared with some other makes, I tended to use the four pot set and these cost around the £6 mark.

The green raised circular shape is the top and this is there to make opening the lid easier and you can use it to lever open the lid. The lid itself is attached to the actual body of the pot so that means there is no problem with losing the lids when in use, especially if this is when on the move and out of the home. It also means when these are stored away in the cupboard and not being used everything is together and you are not hunting for stray lids all of the time. The lid itself is very secure and I have never had any problems with food leaking out of these at any time. In order to be able to remove the frozen food when it is needed there is a soft plastic button on the bottom. This for me does not work as well as it should and is one of the design quirks. The idea is that you press it and the frozen food should slide out but it can be a bit hit and miss and sometimes you have to slightly warm up the contents inside either with your hands which is not comfortable and time consuming or some warm water. This should not really be the case in my opinion. There are markings on the pots to ensure that you do not over fill them and these are easy to see.

The other main design issue for me is that the pen that comes with it to label the contents does not really work very well. This is not a major issue as I can pretty much tell what I have prepared and stored but it could easily be improved.

They can be used in the microwave for heating up food, supposedly direct from the freezer but I have to be honest I never tried this. In terms of keeping them clean they are dishwasher friendly however when removing them do watch out for water that gets trapped both in the soft button and the lid disk as it can splash about when you remove them.

Overall these were a good but and very useful, they are quite distinctive and I only deduct one star because of the issue with the pen and the slightly iffy button on the bottom.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

A good product but not wow for the money as has a few faults which is not good for the price paid

These Brother Max weaning pots were an impulse buy when I was weaning my first son and I have to admit we only used them briefly due to some irritations I have with the design. However as I was looking through my cupboards and thinking of a few months ahead with my second son I am sure I will use them again and do prefer the design of these to the Annabel Karmel weaning trays I also bought.

The pots come in two sizes the large 4 pot size which is the one I have and a small size 6 pot set.

The pots are made from a light blue plastic and on 3 sides of the cube there is a jutting out circular shape this is so all the pots can slot together in the freezer. The idea behind this is that they will take up less room. They are nice and easy to slot into one another, both whilst out of the freezer and when you are filling them up. They are easy to take apart when you take them back out of the freezer so from a design point they work well. However this slotting together takes up no more or less room than similar small plastic pots that I have so it is really a bit of a gimmick I think. Equally as they do jut out if you are taking food out with you for the day in a change/ day bag they can feel a bit awkward and uncomfortable in the bag.

On the top of the lid there is a raised green plastic circular shape again from a design point of view this looks great and sets them apart from regular pots. The raised section makes it nice and easy to open the pots by putting your fingers in them rather than trying to use your nails around the sealed area of the pot which would be the case if it wasn't there. I actually find these easier to open than regular pots as I find I can get a better grip of the circular shape than an edge of a lid. As the lid is attached to the pot it is great for making sure that you don't lose tops either whilst out or in the cupboard. This is a feature I like as with cheaper pots I am often missing lids for some reason in the same way that I will always lose one sock somewhere. The other good thing about the lid is they remain firmly closed till you pull on the circle which means that they do not leak when you are out and about which is a good plus for me. My quibble though with the design is that if you are washing them in the dishwasher it is very easy for water to fill up this hole and you then need to tip the water out and dry it yourself.

At the base of each pot there is a soft plastic button that you press to release the frozen food cube from. This I find to be a bit temperamental if I am honest some food comes out very easily by just pressing it but other food especially if it has a high starch content such as rice or potatoes in it does tend to super glue itself to the sides. I do find that if you run the outside of the pot under a hot tap for a minute or so then press it again this seems to do the trick and get the food out from it. The same issue with washing the pots occurs for the base of the pots as the tops in that the dimple is left with water in it when you using the dishwasher or if it is air drying on a rack.

The pots have a clearly labelled maximum amount line on them to help you not over fill the pots and to allow for expansion and I find that they have never popped open in the freezer if I have followed this line.

The pots are also suitable for the microwave and can actually be heated up straight from the freezer. When heating them up in the microwave I find that it is best to not have the lid firmly on as if it is too well sealed it then has a habit of exploding the top off it and sending bits around the microwave whereas if the lid is slightly off the steam can escape and no major explosion happens. The fact that they can be microwaved from frozen has been really useful on occasions when I have forgotten to take something out of the freezer to defrost and I have had no problems with any damage to the pots re heating them this way.

The pots come supplied with a pen for writing the contents on one side of the pot however the pen quickly runs out and is also easily wiped off for some reason as it never seems to stay on. So if you are needing labelling a small sticker I find works better and is easy to take wash off the side.

Overall there are some clear design flaws such as the locking together being a bit gimmicky the circular section filling with water and at times the food getting stuck in the pots till you run it under hot water. However there are a lot of pluses such as the lids being attached and providing a good seal the fact that you can re heat from frozen and they last well. However I do think you can probably get this as well from some cheaper products on the market and at a Recommended retail price of £6.49 for the four pot set they are an expensive option I think supermarket pots are probably a better option for most mums. However I have these I will use them again with my son a 3 star product.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Love how they look, but the reality is very disappointing.

Like many mums these days I was very keen to give my daughter home-made food when she reached weaning age. Why not? It's easy enough to make a batch of pureed veg! What I soon discovered though was that although making it was easy, storing it was a bit of a pain....suitable pots were required, and in large quantities!

***Size and Price***These pots are available in two sizes, the smaller size comes in a pack of 6 40ml pots and is suitable for First Stage weaning. The larger size comprises of 4 170ml pots, suitable for second stage weaning. I decided to go straight for the larger size, thinking I could half fill them until my daughter could manage a whole pot. I paid around £6, which isn't too bad, until you think that I would probably need upwards of 30 of these to cope with all my batch cooking!

***The Selling Points***One of my main criteria when buying plastic products for my daughter was that they were BPA Free, these pots are, and had many other selling points too! They click together which seemed like a perfect idea for my batch cooking, I could label one pot and know that all the pots attached to it contained the same food. When clicked together there are no gaps between the pots so they can be filled easily without making a mess, and in the base of the pot there is a rubbery 'button' which you can push to 'pop' frozen food out easily.

***The Reality***Where do I begin?! Maybe by saying that these pots drove me so crazy they were soon relegated to the back of the cupboard only to be used when all other pots were full!! For a start, I find them incredibly difficult to open! The top of the pot has a green 'ring' which you (in theory) put your fingers in to pull the lid open. I find the the ring is far to shallow to get a grip on, opening the pot this way is a nail breaking and painful experience, made even worse if the pot has just come out of the freezer. I tended to resort to squeezing a nail between the gap between the lid and the pot and prising it open that way (also quite nail breaking and painful, but usually more successful). I also found that trying to 'pop' frozen food out using the button on the bottom was an impossible task, unless the food had been out of the freezer for a while already, in which case turning the pot upside down and giving it a little shake was equally as successful!I did click the pots together a few times to fill them, but soon decided it wasn't really worth it, it didn't make that much difference to the time spent filling them and they are quite faffy to click together, it seemed much easier just to hold each pot individually and fill it with a spoon! I also never bothered clicking them together to freeze them, though I see that this could still be a useful feature.The pots are well made, they are a nice size and strong enough to take a few bashes without breaking. Once opened, the lids stay open, making feeding a baby out of one an easy task. Once shut, (as already mentioned!) they stay firmly shut, meaning you can chuck them in your bag safe in the knowledge the contents won't spill out.

***Summary***For me, the fact that these pots are so difficult to open made them completely unusable. The other problems are minor irritations. But there were times when it would take me 5 minutes to get into a pot that had come straight out of the freezer - and I am not exaggerating! NOT what you need when you've got a hungry baby waiting! There are times now when I may use them to take snacks, such as grapes out with us, but I never use them in the freezer. I much prefer my Babypotz!

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Food storage pots with too many irritations, have found better

- Why I Bought -If, like me, you have decided to prepare homemade baby food for your baby, then you will definitely need some kind of storage pots. It is much more cost-effective and much less hassle to cook up a big batch of food for baby and freeze it into smaller portions than it is to faff around cooking up small portions of food three times a day. I bought two sets of Brother Max storage pots when I first started to wean my baby. I was drawn to them because they looked unusual and I didn't recognise the brand.

- The Pots -The first was a set of six small pots (40ml) and the second a set of four large pots (170ml). Each pot is clear plastic and cube shaped. The lid is attached to the pot and has a green circle on it. The point of this is that you can write the date of freezing and what you are freezing in this circle using the black pen provided (each set comes with one pen) and this won't become foggy in the freezer. The circle also has a groove, making the pot easier to open as you can hook your finger inside it. Each pot also has plastic slots on the sides allowing you to slot several pots together. I paid approximately £6 per set from Boots.

What I like about these pots is the choice of two different sizes. This is very useful as baby's appetite grows. As my baby is 10 months now, the smaller pots aren't large enough for a meal unless you use several - but they are handy for freezing fruit puree to add to porridge or desserts. The pots have a line near the top to show you how full you can fill them, if you go over the line there won't be any room for the liquid to expand in the freezer and you risk the lid popping off. It is really useful to have this as a guide. I have used these pots frequently and mostly (see below) they are as good as new despite regular freezing, microwaving and runs through the dishwasher.

What I don't like about these pots are the slots on the sides for connecting the pots together. I don't see the point in being able to do this - and on a few of my pots the grooved plastic has snapped off. Despite the circle on the lid I don't find these pots easy to open unless you don't mind breaking a nail or using a knife. The pen that came provided in the pack to write on the pots stopped working quite quickly. This didn't really bother me because I have a well-organised freezer and didn't really feel the need to label the pots anyway but I imagine this would annoy some people.

Overall I wouldn't buy these pots again because there were quite a few irritations and I found other brands of storage pot which I preferred and were cheaper.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

A must have for weaning!

If, like me, you decide(d) to go down the traditional route of weaning by making purees for your baby, rather than baby- led weaning, then these Brother Max puree pots are just the thing you need.

They come in two sizes; small for when you first begin to wean, and large when your baby has lumps in their food. I currently have the small ones, therefore this review is based on those.

They come in packs of six and cost £5.99 from Tesco. A pen is included in each pack, enabling you to write on the pot exactly what is in there; very handy if, like me, you get a little carried away in the kitchen and mass produce lovingly home- made puree!

The pots are a simple design; clear with a fogged out area on the front where you write what the contents are. they have a snap shut lid with a green circular groove on top; I think this is so you can open the pot easily by hooking your finger inside the groove. All pots have an extra piece on the outside allowing you to click the pots together. I am not sure why you would need to do this; if anyone can explain why I'd be most grateful! There is also a rubber outwards groove on the bottom, presumably for pushing out ice cubes!

The pots are dishwasher, microwave and freezer safe.

I have found these pots very handy. I have tried many others, only to find they leak everywhere or I can't get the lid off! The lids of these pots are watertight; no leakages as of yet. I also find it very easy to get the lid off! The only negative I have is with the pen. They run out very quickly, and when the pot contains something cold, the ink tends to fade. Also, it is very difficult to rub the ink off; whether this is because of the ink or the pot, I have no idea. I have to scrub and scrub until only a very faint ink mark is left.

I find the food very easy to scoop out using a Tomme Tippee weaning spoon.

These Brother Max pots are fabulous for storing all your purees. I will be investing in the bigger sized ones soon.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Brother Max food portioners

When it came to weaning my little girl I used lots of little pots to fill up with my puree creations. This way I could make massive batches of pureed vegetables and fruit and freeze them and have them readily available for her later. The best pots that I found were from the Brother Max range.

According to the packaging the Brother Max range was inspired by family and I quote, "My name is Jonathan. I used to design cars , bikes and washing machines. Then I became a dad and my world changed overnight. I soon realised how much of a juggling act being a parent can be, and how precious time is. I began thinking about how to make everyday tasks simpler and less time consuming. This is the result: a range of products designed to help get things done more quickly and easily so that babies, toddlers and their parents can spend more time doing the fun stuff. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do - Jonathan Gold."

I used the 6 small food portioners although I had way more than six. These pots look like little ice cubes to be honest. They are small little plastic pots made of a sturdy thick plastic with a green circle on the lid. The circle works as a pop out function. I found this great. After you had frozen your little portion with other pots I found it hard to get the frozen lump of food out of the pot. With this pot all you had to do was remove it from the freezer and push the base with your thumb and it pops out easily. You can then heat up the little ice cube of food in the microwave or in a pot on the stove.

Another nice function of the pots was that they were really easy to store, either when clean and washed up in the cupboard or in the freezer. The individual pots click together so you can keep all of one taste together and then they are not just freely rolling around in the freezer but all held together. It's held together almost like little lego pieces and that makes them very easy to pull apart too if you don't want to defrost all of the pots at once.

These pots were really easy to fill, as soon as I had pureed up my food, I just filled up the pots and then closed the lids. I really liked how well the lids closed on these pots. They clicked together very firmly which meant no leakage in the freezer. Other pots I had used didn't close as well as I was always wary of them leaking but with these you could take them out of the freezer, put them in a bag to take out for the day and would be defrosted when you needed them.

The pots came with a felt pen that you could use to write on the pot which although a really good idea, (once you have filled your pots with green goo or orange goo it is hard to tell what it actually is, pureed carrot and pureed sweet potato look the same when frozen) the pen unfortunately didn't work too well for me and did not write on the pots well so unfortunately that is the only downside of this product for me.

The pots are freezer, microwave, dishwasher and steriliser safe and cost £5.99 for a pack of six. I purchased mine at Mothercare.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Excellent product for weaning your baby.

What's it all about?

The Brother Max Food Portioners are perfect for preparing home cooked food for your baby. The tubs are available in two sizes, holding 40mls and around 150 mls of liquid. The smaller containers are available in packs of six and the larger containers come in packs of four. Each of the packs retails for around six pounds; it is quite rare to find these available cheaper, but if you are lucky they occasionally become available on boots 3 for 2 offers.

The packaging

I know we shouldn't be fooled by packaging, but I have to admit that I really like the way these are packaged! The box has two popper studs at the top, so the box can be resealed once opened. I like this feature as I will put the tubs back in their boxes once I am finished, and they will be ready for baby number two. The box comes with a marker to write the contents of the side of the tub. I have bought a number of boxes now and have found that the marker is a hit or a miss, some of them have worked beautifully and others have only left a very faint outline of what I have tried to write.

Which size to buy?

I initially bought one pack in each size, thinking that my baby would quickly outgrow the smaller pots. However, she is now nine months old and I still use the small containers regularly, sometimes I give her two pots for a main meal, but often if I have made fruit compote for pudding, one will suffice. I actually like using two smaller tubs rather than a larger one as it gives me the freedom to decide how hungry she is likely to be and give me the option of only heating one pot. The bigger containers are good too, but I think there are cheaper products on the market which will do a similar job in the larger size.

The features!

These tubs have got a handy little button on the bottom of them so frozen food can be popped right out in order to be heated in a bowl, however, these tubs are microwave safe so there is not always a need to do so. The tubs also join together which is really handy when putting them in the freezer.

The downside!

The only negative is that strong foods can stain the pots, particularly the button at the bottom of the pot. This is not much of an issue and not one which I think the company could easily avoid.